This gritty musical about the coal industry in northeast England is regularly staged by all kinds of theatre companies, from professional to school to amateur. The play, adapted from stories by Sid Chaplin, and with the songs of Alex Glasgow, is frequently revived. It has been described as a hymn of unqualified praise to the miners who created a revolutionary weapon without having a revolutionary intent. Alan Plater has written numerous radio, television, theatre, and film scripts, as well as fiction.

When 'Hymns and Arias' rang out at Cardiff Arms Park some fifty years ago, those great Welsh anthems 'Calon Lân' and 'Cwm Rhondda' had found a companion and the valleys of south Wales had produced a new folk hero. From his early days touring the folk clubs and small concert halls of his native south Wales to sell-out shows at some of the world's most iconic venues, including the Albert Hall, the London Palladium and the opera houses of Sydney and Durban, Max has become an original and treasured performer whose songs and stories have become part of folk culture. His albums, including the No. 1 album We All Had Doctors' Papers and the iconic Live at Treorchy, have sold in their millions and earned him several gold discs. His greatest influence has always been the Valleys of Wales, with their inherent warmth and humour, their sadness and passion, and he has the remarkable ability to heighten, to an art form, the 'hwyl' that attends his nation's national game: rugby union. Compiling – in some instances for the first time in print – the very best songs, poems and stories from across his celebrated career, Max Boyce: Hymns & Arias is the definitive selected work of a major cultural figure who, through his inimitable humour, uniquely Welsh pathos and masterful wordcraft, has defined a nation and its people for more than half a century.

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time Published in 1975, Ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. An extraordinary tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century and the First World War. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, New York, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. And almost magically, the line between fantasy and historical fact, between real and imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J. P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, and Emiliano Zapata slip in and out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler and a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence.

This comprehensive study formulates an original theory that dramatic song must be perceived as a separate genre situated between poetry, music, and theater. It focuses on John Arden, Margaretta D'Arcy, Edward Bond, Peter Barnes, John Osborne, Peter Nichols, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Peter Shaffer, and John McGrath.

Highly Commended Geographical Association Award 2002 `Has been judged as likely to make a significant contribution to geography′ This book provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary thought and practice in teaching geography. It is designed to support continuing professional development and reflective practice in geography education by: encouraging a critical understanding of the literature and concepts; stimulating teachers to continue with personal and professional development; and providing professionally relevant knowledge, understanding, skills and values. Drawn from a wide range of eminent geographers and experienced practitioners, the authors cover: progress in geography - changing viewpoints; the geography curriculum - development planning and issues; and research and geography teaching - why and how research matters. This book is essential reading and a valuable resource, for student and practising teachers of geography at secondary school level, as well as for those responsible for continuing professional development and subject leadership.